Atlanta firms for litigators Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a mid-level associate at MTO/W&C/equivalent firm, and I enjoy the work culture and people here. Left to my own devices, I'd stay here indefinitely. However, for family reasons, I anticipate that I'll be moving to Atlanta in the next year or two. I'm trying to figure out what the closest analogue to practicing at these firms looks like there. Bondurant Mixson was my initial guess but unfortunately it seems like they have a strict no-laterals policy.

My preference would be to work somewhere I can maintain a generalist practice (i.e. I don't get hired as a 'government investigations associate' and never get to work on paying-client appeals).

My credentials: magna from HLS, D. Ct. and COA clerkships (neither in Atlanta, although the COA clerkship was in the South). I'm also from Georgia and attended undergrad there, so I've certainly got ties.

There was a similar-ish thread 5 years ago but I figured I'd refresh it now, especially since one of the firms mentioned then no longer exists. I would appreciate any thoughts!

[Anonymous User]

I'm a mid-level associate at MTO/W&C/equivalent firm, and I enjoy the work culture and people here. Left to my own devices, I'd stay here indefinitely. However, for family reasons, I anticipate that I'll be moving to Atlanta in the next year or two. I'm trying to figure out what the closest analogue to practicing at these firms looks like there. Bondurant Mixson was my initial guess but unfortunately it seems like they have a strict no-laterals policy.

My preference would be to work somewhere I can maintain a generalist practice (i.e. I don't get hired as a 'government investigations associate' and never get to work on paying-client appeals).

My credentials: magna from HLS, D. Ct. and COA clerkships (neither in Atlanta, although the COA clerkship was in the South). I'm also from Georgia and attended undergrad there, so I've certainly got ties.

There was a similar-ish thread 5 years ago but I figured I'd refresh it now, especially since one of the firms mentioned then no longer exists. I would appreciate any thoughts!

Can confirm BME's strict no laterals policy. Their hiring partner is an adjunct at Emory and I asked him that question directly when I was taking his class.

If you want to be generalist, there is only 1 answer - King & Spalding. Maybe Jones Day because they are truly "one firm" and you can work on a lot of matters from other offices but live in Atlanta. You can try recently opened Chaiken Ghali for mostly white collar (but they claim they do other matters, too) if you want a boutique.

[gregfootball2001]

K&S is top of the heap, and their business litigation team is pretty broad.

[crouton62]

Bondurant is the only firm in ATL that is somewhat close to a W&C or MTO-type place. Two other good commercial litigation boutiques in town are Fellows LaBriola and Caplan Cobb. Good folks and pretty sophisticated work at both places. If you like a boutique firm, they would warrant your attention.

Otherwise, you'll have to look to the big firms. Agreed with the other posters that K&S has the best BigLaw litigation practice in town. An office that large will do pretty much any type of dispute, but I would be careful in the interviews to suss out the chances of getting stuck on one of the tobacco trial teams down in Florida, since that is a big piece of the K&S litigation group. Jones Day, A&B, Troutman, Kilpatrick, and Greenberg Traurig are the other main big firms in town. All have your standard BigLaw general commercial litigation practices, but others may want to speak to particular areas of focus/strength. I am a litigator in a niche area at one of them that is in a separate department from the commercial litigators. It seems like those folks are broadly subgrouped into those that focus on products liability, healthcare-related matters, and true general business disputes that can be anything from class action defense to a business v. business contract dispute. White Collar work is in a separate department. With your credentials, you will obviously be a very desirable lateral candidate. I guess a lot will come down to who is hiring whenever you're ready to move down here and the particular focus of the specific partners/teams who need the help and whether that jives with your interests/goals.